Tài liệu Women of the World Women’''''s Health in India doc

U.S. Census Bureau, the Official Statistics™ December 10, 1998

Women of the World







WID/98-3

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

Issued December 1998

By Victoria A. Velkoff and Arjun Adlakha

International Programs Center

India is one of the few countries in

the world where women and men

have nearly the same life expect￾ancy at birth. The fact that the

typical female advantage in life

expectancy is not seen in India

suggests there are systematic

problems with women’s health.

Indian women have high mortality

rates, particularly during childhood

and in their reproductive years.

The health of Indian women is

intrinsically linked to their status in

society. Research on women’s

status has found that the contribu￾tions Indian women make to

families often are overlooked, and

instead they are viewed as eco￾nomic burdens. There is a strong

son preference in India, as sons

are expected to care for parents as

they age. This son preference,

along with high dowry costs for

daughters, sometimes results in the

mistreatment of daughters. Fur￾ther, Indian women have low levels

of both education and formal labor

force participation. They typically

have little autonomy, living under

the control of first their fathers, then

their husbands, and finally their

While women in India face many

serious health concerns, this profile

focuses on only five key issues:

reproductive health, violence

against women, nutritional status,

unequal treatment of girls and

boys, and HIV/AIDS. Because of

the wide variation in cultures,

religions, and levels of development

among India’s 25 states and 7

union territories, it is not surprising

that women’s health also varies

greatly from state to state. To give

a more detailed picture, data for the

major states will be presented

whenever possible.

sons (Chatterjee, 1990; Desai,

1994; Horowitz and Kishwar, 1985;

The World Bank, 1996). All of these

factors exert a negative impact on

the health status of Indian women.

Poor health has repercussions not

only for women but also their

families. Women in poor health are

more likely to give birth to low￾weight infants. They also are less

likely to be able to provide food and

adequate care for their children.

Finally, a woman’s health affects the

household economic well-being, as

a woman in poor health will be less

productive in the labor force.

Women of the World

Female

sterilization

67%

Condom

6% Traditional

11%

Figure 1.

Percent Distribution of Contraceptive Users by

Method: 1992-93

Note: Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

Source: International Institute for Population Sciences, 1995

IUD

5%

Male

sterilization

9%

Pill

3%